Apple leads, Dell lags in customer satisfaction

[onehandle]

Market research firm Forrester on Friday released a report measuring customers' overall satisfaction with computer manufacturers. Apple not only topped the list, it blew away the competition.

Apple's overall customer satisfaction rating was at 80 percent, 14 points above the closest competitor, Gateway, who came in at 66 percent. HP and Compaq were pretty close with a 64 percent and 63 percent customer satisfaction rating, respectively.

Dell brought up the rear with a satisfaction rating of 58 percent.

The ratings were based on three categories: Useful, Easy to Use, and Enjoyable. Apple dominated in each category, scoring 82 percent (Useful), 86 percent (Easy to Use), and 72 percent (Enjoyable).

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/macworld/20090417/tc_macworld/appleleadsdelllagsincustomersatisfaction_1

[ananda]

1. I'm not surprised.

Mac lover here.

[tridim]

2. Not surprised either..

Since Apple is effectively a cult of Mac lovers.

[Javaman]

4. huh, interesting insight based on what?

It appears as if the study proves us out.

Let the whining begin!!!

:popcorn:

I throw gauntlet!! yes I do! and I sneer and roll my eyes in your general direction, mr. vista dumper XP praiser!

LOL

[tridim]

5. Well, I'm well aware of all the Apple support horror stories

I hear them as much as I hear Dell/PC support horror stories.

From my IT experience Apple users generally don't speak ill of their leader or their product, especially when polled.

[onehandle]

7. Well, gosh. If you say so. nt

[spooky3]

13. Statistics (per Consumer Reports) show that Apple support is superior.

There is little reason for people to lie on an anonymous survey, and Consumer Reports readers have shown themselves to be pretty spot on with respect to their assessments of other services and reliability of products. And there are sound reasons for Apple's higher rating - Apple budgets more for this and if you live near an Apple Store you can get free, competent help for most things.

That's an example of how broad-based statistics and other data are more reliable than one person's anecdotes, which can be very unrepresentative of the population.

There are fewer maintenance issues with Apples than with Dells, IIRC. Laptops of all types have more maintenance issues. That happens to be consistent with my experience in over 20 years of Mac ownership, but mine is only one anecdote as well.

[walldude]

16. I'm with you... after years of hearing how great Mac is

and how they never crash and never get viruses I finally broke down and bought one. Not impressed at all. They run no better then a well built PC. And the whole make an appointment for service thing? Uh.. fail. Plus you can't tinker with the damn things, it's like Mac thinks they are so special that no user could possibly know how to upgrade, repair or modify it.

[Javaman]

30. ...

:rofl:

[vow66]

8. Since Apple is effectively a cult of Mac lovers

That's so true :rofl:

Have you seen this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F9gdx_LIAc

[smalll]

22. Correct. Buying a Mac is just conspicuous consumption.

A cult for rich people. So of course they are satisfied with being a member of their exclusive club.

And another thing: I don't know much about computers, but recently bought a new one (a Gateway, actually) and have therefore been chatting to people recently about computer issues. It's understood that one of the benefits of Macs is that they don't get viruses, but from what I have heard from people who know about these things, the only reason Macs don't get viruses is simply that they are such a niche market (due to their cost) people don't BOTHER to make viruses that infect Macs!

If somehow Macs went from being a niche market to a mainstream good, the virus-makers would start making viruses for Macs. In that way, the ridiculous cost of Macs is actually kind of a good thing - it's keeping viruses away from them.

[Javaman]

31. ...

:spray: A cult for rich people. :rofl:

[onehandle]

32. Yeah. My computer is a cardboard box with a computer screen drawn on the side.

I'm not rich enough for those fancy electrical computers.

[Elwood P Dowd]

33. I just learned two things about myself I did not know.

I am suddenly rich, and I am a member of some cult. I guess the same goes for about a dozen friends who own Macs. I need to inform them of their new found wealth. They are rich cultists and don't even know it.

[wickerwoman]

35. Er,

I've had three Apple laptops in fifteen years. In the same span of time my dad has had nine PCs and my brother has had seven. I only upgraded to improve the specs for games I wanted to play. Most of my dad's and brother's PCs melted down. I still have all three laptops and all three of them still work.

So say conservatively an average of $2000 for Mac laptops and $1000 PC desktops, I've spent $6000 on computers over fifteen years and they've spent $9000 and $7000.

Clearly I'm a rich elitist snob, not someone who recognizes value for money and doesn't like to buy disposable shit that will clog up landfills with toxic chemicals.

The only time I ever had a problem with a Mac in fifteen years I took it to the Mac Shop, waited about twenty minutes and got to talk to an actual living English speaking person who knew what he was talking about and replaced everything for free on the spot even though my warranty had expired.

At least once a month either my father or my brother ends up screaming down the phone at someone from Bangladesh trying to troubleshoot blind and off a script.

Enjoy your new PC, may it bring you years of inconspicuous happiness.

[AndyTiedye]

10. If You Can Get Your Customers to Love Your Product, You Must be Doing Something Right

[Dappleganger]

15. Exactly!

They have the market on company loyalty, that's for sure.

[tridim]

17. That's how it should work.

But in Apple's case, I just don't see it. It's certainly not worth the premium price. IMO of course.

I can't afford to send my system away for days of service if it breaks. My previous office had a Mac that was in the service queue for a week and a half, and when it came back the problem was still there. Not good.

If my PC has a hardware issue, I determine what's wrong and fix or replace the bad component. Downtime is usually about an hour.

[onehandle]

26. Macs are bad, says you. PCs are great and if they break, you can fix them with duct tape.

Got it.

[tridim]

36. No, I can fix PC's with inexpensive commodity parts available at my local computer store.

[Javaman]

3. suit up, I suspect some serious Windows inspired flame whining.

:popcorn:

Mac user here too. :)

[onehandle]

6. It'll go something like this...

"Why would I buy a Mac when I can build my own PC out of used kleenex and twigs"

"They don't make software for the Mac"

"Apple is going out of business"

"Linux Rules!"

etc...

[Javaman]

9. Add this one to the list...

"I hear them as much as I hear Dell/PC support horror stories."

I don't know, I have my g5 now for almost 5 years and it yet has had a problem. And the one and only time I called apple support, they figured out the problem in less than 3 minutes.

I guess I just don't sit around the same campfire as this guy. LOL

[noamnety]

25. I had all kinds of fun with Dell customer support

http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2847943#2848057

I don't buy macs either though, because the mac laptop I had had chronic problems with power supplies catching fire and eventually the screen stopped working, which turned out to be a consistent problem with that model.

[Javaman]

29. um okay...

:shrug:

[Tikki]

11. Apple has done right by me....I will continue to..

buy Apple products.


Tikki

[high density]

12. Is that it to customer satisfaction with computers? Easy, enjoyable, and useful?

Who would buy something that doesn't fit those characteristics? Forty-two percent of Dell's customers, I guess. Bait and switch? What were they thinking when they bought a Dell to begin with? (I don't have an issue with Dells but I admit they are not on the top of my list when shopping for a computer.)

Usually when I buy something I am already satisfied with the easy/enjoyable/useful part of the thing. It's the post-sale support (or lack of it) that can make or break my satisfaction with a product or brand.

[Dappleganger]

14. Have had a lot of interaction with the local Genius Bar...

we're a die-hard Mac family (still own my first G4 Cube from 2001, running like a champ). They have never done me wrong and have always been polite. Always had great communication and service from Apple. We didn't just buy a product, we bought a service as well.

It also doesn't hurt that our oldest daughter is currently dating one of the techs, either. :)

[MrCoffee]

18. I am wildly dissatisfied with my Dell laptop, thanks to inept customer support

I'll never buy another Dell anything as long as I live.

[ejpoeta]

19. my sister has a MAC and she seems to like it. looks pretty neat to me, but

all my software is PC. the only complaint i have ever heard about MAC is that you have to get the extended warranty, at least with the IPOD.... or you get charged for any problems if you need help.

[Twinguard]

20. I have and use both Microsoft and Apple

My current comp is an Apple mbp. My last was an Alienware (actually it was a dell labeled as Alienware). The alienware was a turd and I had nothing but trouble with it. When I called them for support, I was repetedly transferred around and fed piles of BS. The tech they sent out to my house had never even heard of alienware, even though they hired him to make a house call. I was extremely dissatisfied with alienware when the computer died and their response was "oh well, no more warranty. Sucks to be you."

I went apple for a replacement because they have a reputation for being good and because my (computerly challenged) dad uses a mac, and I would be better able to help him. It took no time at all to fall on love with it. Plus, my mbp is more powerful than the alienware was and for about $400 less. I no longer buy the arguement that windows machines are automatically cheaper.

I guess I have become a mac fanboy... And proud of it!! :)

[8 track mind]

21. i had nothing but problems

from my dell desktop. Customer support, which was in India, was next to useless. Fuck dell.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

23. yet they still couldn't fix my iBook

I was once in an Apple store with a bunch of other iBook owners comparing notes on which logicboard we were on as we waited in line to talk to the Mac Fucktard.

[ZombieNixon]

24. Not surprising.

Of those acquaintances of mine that have PCs, those that use Dells seem to have the most problems. I have two Mac laptops, one running both Leopard and XP SP2, as well as a home built computer that can run both Leopard and Windows (of course). I have had problems with both laptops, but I expect that because I have a tendency to drive my computers to the limit hardware and software-wise, and carry them around a lot. The one time I was genuinely annoyed with Apple was this winter when the logic board on my year-old MacBook Pro crapped out. I was computerless for two weeks since I was in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, and had to ship my computer off to California for repairs. However, with AppleCare, it didn't cost my anything, and won't for another two years. Currently, the DVD drive seems to be messed up, but when I get time, I'll take it in and have them replace it.

Generally, my beefs with Apple revolve around the high prices, and the somewhat strangle-like grip in which they keep their products, but the techs at the Genius Bar and on the phone are always polite and usually helpful. There are some things they don't know (I had a disc stuck in the aforementioned DVD drive that was preventing my computer from booting up correctly; tech support told me to try a lot of things, which didn't help, and it turns out after turning the computer on and letting it sit in limbo for five minutes, it booted the disc out and started up like normal).

I will continue to use Apple products, but now that I know how to Hackintosh a PC, I will probably just be buying new laptops instead of desktops. For me it comes down to the OS. I just like and trust Mac OS X far more than I will ever trust Windows. Beyond that, hardware is hardware, and in what I do, I've learned to anticipate and accept mechanical failures as a matter of course.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. My work computer is an HP, and it's rock solid. -nt

[ZombieNixon]

28. HPs seem pretty decent.

My roommate and his girlfriend have matching HP laptops and they seem very happy with them.

[onehandle]

34. I've had PCs along side my Macs for years. The HP was one of the better ones.

Dells might as well be unsupported no-name clones based on what I've experienced and others have told me.